Aurora
I didn’t say anything.
Sergei took the lead, heading out of the restaurant ahead of me. The car was already waiting, so I guessed he’d called ahead. He opened the backseat passenger door, and I climbed in. Sitting back, I took a breath, wiping at my cheeks to make sure the tears wouldn’t fall.
“Take me home,” I said.
I rarely thought of Slavik’s apartment as home.
He didn’t question me.
I stared out the window.
Boring. Ugly. These were words I was used to. They shouldn’t hurt me anymore, and yet, I thought Bethany had started to become a friend.
There was no friendship there. At least I heard the truth before I got too attached.
No friends.
This was how I was just going to have to live my life. People didn’t like me. Simple as that. No matter what I did.
Fine. I wouldn’t make friends.
The drive was a blur.
When he parked the car, I shot out of it, going straight to the elevator. I didn’t give Sergei a chance to catch up. The doors closed and the elevator took me up. No one stopped the elevator in its tracks, and for that, I was relieved.
I had a key to the door and I let myself in, tempted to lock the door, but I refused to cause more of a scene.
Gently, I put my bag down and went straight to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and saw the bottle of water.
I’d been starving myself these past few weeks. Working out at the gym. The gym.
I rushed to the bedroom, changed out of the skirt, sandals, and crop top into a pair of gym shorts and a shirt. When I was changed and ready, Sergei came into the apartment. He was panting.
“You didn’t wait for the elevator?”
“I’m to keep you protected at all times.”
“Yeah, well, this is not one of those times.”
I made to go around him. He stepped in my way. He was out of air, but he still thought he could take me on.
“I’m going to work out. I need to go to the gym.”
“What happened?” he asked.
“None of your business. Your job is to take care of me. Consider your job well done.” I reached out, patted him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. I’m still alive.”
“Aurora, you’re hurting.”
“I’m not. I’m completely fine. I’ve got no reason to be upset or hurt. I’m alive. I’ve told you that.”
“You’re going to cry.”
Tears had already flooded my eyes. “Get out of my way.”
“No.”
“This is not doing your job.”
“Like you said. You’re alive. You’re safe.” He reached out and touched my face.
I jerked back. “No.”
“Aurora, come on, I know you feel it too.”
I frowned. This was so very different. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I continued to take a step back, and he followed. I kept on walking until the wall stopped me from moving. I tensed up as his hands came out and were placed on either side of my head.
“You think I don’t see the way you look at me? Slavik doesn’t deserve you. No one does. I see it. I notice your pain.”
“Sergei, you’ve got to stop.” I didn’t have any feelings for him. He was my guard and it mattered to me that my actions didn’t get him hurt or killed, but that was all.
“No, I don’t think I need to stop. I see how they all treat you. They all ignore you. I can’t stand that.” He pressed his body against mine and the hurt I’d been feeling morphed into something else. Fear.
Before I knew what was happening, Sergei had grabbed my face and started to kiss me. His tongue traced across my mouth, and I instantly tried to push him away. This was not a kiss I wanted.
I’d only ever kissed Slavik, and right now, this made me feel like I betrayed him. I didn’t ask for Sergei’s kiss, but because I hadn’t reported his inappropriate behavior to Slavik, did he think this gave him a right to me?
I tried to cry out, but Sergei was strong. I was no match for him.
I kept trying to hit him, to force him to get away.
All of a sudden, he was off me, and I panted for breath until I saw what was going on. Slavik had come home and now he pounded his fist against Sergei’s face.
Within the few seconds it had taken me to gain my composure, the sheer violence Slavik displayed shocked me.
Over and over, he slammed his fist against his face.
Blood spilled, splattering on the floor and the wall.
“Slavik, stop it.”
I couldn’t get through. Over and over, the pounding went. I reacted, grabbing Slavik’s arms, trying to get him to stop, but he shoved me away and I fell hard, my ass hitting the floor.
There was nothing else for me to do.
Right there, in front of me, Slavik drew his gun and shot Sergei in the head.
My mouth fell open. No sounds came out.
Sergei, my bodyguard, was dead.
Slavik spat on him and got to his feet. His hands were covered in blood, Sergei’s blood.
He turned toward me, and as he advanced, with all the blood, I scrambled away. I was no match for Slavik either. He grabbed my arm and dragged me up, slamming my back against the wall.
I cried out. Tears ran down my cheeks as he pressed the gun against my temple. I whimpered as the heat seemed to burn right through my head.
“How long?” he asked.
“What?”
“How long have you been fucking him?”
“I would never do that. Never.”
“You expect me to believe that after what I just saw?”
“If you saw correctly, you’d have seen that I was fighting him off.” My entire body shook.
I’d seen people killed before. Dead bodies were not new to me, but right now, I was in shock. I had to be.
The sheer violence, that was new to me.
He didn’t stop to ask Sergei any questions. He just killed him. Now he had the same gun pointed at me and thought I would betray him. Seconds passed as Slavik looked into my eyes.
“I saw,” he said. “Now tell me what the fuck happened.”
I nodded my head. The action felt jerky to me, but I stood there and told him everything. About coming home and Sergei pressing me against the wall. The kiss. I even told him about him wanting to be friends and getting close. I didn’t have any secrets.
All the while, Slavik looked at me.
What did he see?
Was he debating how to get rid of me?
“Go to your room,” he said. “Stay there until I come to you.”
“Slavik?”
“Now!” He yelled the word, and I didn’t stick around. I ran as fast as I could, tripping over my feet. Once inside the bedroom, I flicked the lock closed and ran toward the bathroom. Staring at my reflection, I saw the blood. Sergei’s blood.
This was all my fault. I tore my clothes off my body, scrambling to get myself clean.
I stepped beneath the water and cried out as the cold hit my skin. I didn’t move for a short time, trying to process everything that had happened. Grabbing the soap, I started to scrub my hands and my body.
Sergei had died because of me.
I should have told him no. Told Slavik.
I felt sick.
Getting someone killed had never been my intention.
I felt so cold. So alone. This wasn’t fair.
Tilting my head up to the shower, I couldn’t believe what had happened today. I’d lost a friend, and another who had wanted to be mine had been killed. What the hell was wrong with me?